On Thursday, June 16th, our AFSCME 3800 union sisters and brothers came together to celebrate the 25 years of struggles and successes at the U of MN since our successful union election 25 years ago. Watch the video commemorating this history, made by our friends in Labor Education Service (LES) at UMN.

On Tuesday, September 29, our bargaining team met with management for the seventh round of negotiations. Our members joined the negotiations session to give their personal testimonies in support of our top four negotiation priorities: 1} dignified wages; 2} parental leave equity; 3} restoration of the Regent’s Scholarship; and 4} addressing workplace bullying. We left the bargaining table with one small agreement but did not move further on other negotiations and are now moving to mediation.

On Thursday, July 9th, we heard the University’s opening wage and health insurance proposals.

The Administration proposed a general (also known as Across The Board) increase of 0.25% per year. A 0.25% raise for our 1621 clerical workers is worth $158,311 a year. To put that in context, over 220 administrators have salaries higher than what the U wants to spend on raises for 1600 people. Even the University’s negotiator acknowledged, when making this proposal that, “the Across the Board proposal is not very good.”

On Friday, June 12 the Regents held their annual Public Hearing where the University community has the opportunity to give their comments on the budget. Members of AFSCME 3800 and Teamsters 320 spoke on behalf of the 4,000 frontline workers at the U of MN. We testified about the growing economic gap between administrators and frontline workers, disparities in benefits between employee groups, and the need for real wage increases for frontline workers. We also shared first hand experiences regarding the struggle to make ends meet and to raise a family and retire with dignity.

To mark the start of the legislative session, progressive leaders gathered at the Minnesota State Capitol to call on lawmakers to enact smart policy that restores drastic cuts to public services and strengthens the middle class.

AFSCME Council 5 executive director Eliot Seide and workers around Minnesota said now is the time, with DFLers leading the legislature and the governorship, to move Minnesota forward.